Harder Achieves Best Business Year Due to Corona Recovery Effects

In 2021, the relocation specialist Harder Logistics from Neu-Ulm recorded the best business year in its 19-year company history. “We were able to increase our sales by about 30 percent, and our earnings have doubled compared to the previous year,” explains Marcello Danieli, managing partner of Harder Logistics.

(Neu-Ulm) Given the Corona pandemic, the year 2021 was hardly budgetable. “Throughout the year, there was a significant recovery effect from postponed projects, which provided us with an enormous boost in orders,” summarizes Danieli. Relocations, industrial assemblies, and high-tech transports for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, mechanical engineering, and banking sectors increased.

The international business volume, with a share of 40 percent, continued to rise strongly. In particular, according to the relocation specialist, the trend persists that companies are relocating to Eastern European countries for economic reasons. Danieli views this development with concern: “This supports EU competition distortions of the highest order within its own economic area.”

More Projects in Germany

Danieli is all the more pleased that the domestic relocation business also picked up in 2021. Among the top projects are relocations for the water filter manufacturer BRITA and the Luminator Technology Group, a manufacturer of passenger information and camera systems. Another highlight was the relocation of the Sana Clinic with nearly 400 patient beds to a new building within Biberach. The project lasted four weeks and involved 30 employees from Harder Logistics. The relocations were prioritized based on the urgency of the departments. The first phase included the administration, the second phase consisted of the preliminary move of duplicate materials. Phase three was the main move, during which the operating rooms, intensive care, and maternity departments could operate in emergency mode until the last minute. The final phase included the subsequent move, where the remaining duplicate materials were allocated to the relevant departments based on their importance.

Container Hall to be Inaugurated in Spring

Harder Logistics is also experiencing significant demand in the storage business. In response to this trend, the company quickly increased its warehouse space to 23,000 m². The family-owned company is currently strategically investing in the construction of a state-of-the-art, fully automated container storage hall with a storage capacity of 250 containers at its Neu-Ulm location, which will be officially opened this spring.

Commitment to Sustainability in Practice

Harder Logistics is consistently advancing its sustainability strategy for its fleet. The transition of the material handling vehicle fleet to electric forklifts is nearly complete. In the area of passenger cars, the company has opted for hybrid technology. In the truck segment, Danieli has not yet made a technology decision and wants to wait for further market maturity—especially in the promising hydrogen technology.

The relocation specialist expresses its commitment to sustainability through its membership in five selected initiatives and organizations. In 2021, the relocation specialist decided to join the “VEA Initiative for Climate-Friendly SMEs.” Additionally, Harder Logistics has been a member of the GirNetwork since early 2022, which connects leading relocation specialists at the international level.

Photo: © Harder